Law in Islam

The primary principles of Islamic Law are that:

• the Law comes from Allah (swt), only He has the authority to determine the criteria for right and wrong, the permissible and the prohibited, the rewards and the sanctions;

• the sources from which we derive the Law are the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh);

• there is Civil Law, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law & Administrative Law- all have been pre-ordained by Allah (swt);

• it governs all aspects of the lives of Muslims; it governs the private and public lives as well as the personal and professional lives;

• any contravention of Islamic Law is a Sin, however, this Sin is equally a Crime as in Islam these two terms (Sin & Crime) mean the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably.

• there are four main categories of contraventions/sins in Islamic Law- Sins against Allah (swt), Sins against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Sins against one's own self and Sins against others;

• the are two stages of sanctions for sins but only one is necessary- punishment in this life and punishment in the hereafter- it is necessary for the Rule of Law and the Legitimacy of Islamic Law that all those who sin are punished in this life, since there is divine protection from dual punishment for the same sin, ones that are punished in this life will not be punished in the hereafter and only those that escape punishment in this life will face punishment for their sins in the hereafter;

• the Muslim Ummah must adhere to Islamic Law and conduct their lives in strict conformity to the Law.